Your mission -- should you choose to accept it -- is to vote for a song or create a ditty of your own.

The National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) is again making history, but in a whole new way. The space program has always included a wake-up song for astronauts out on missions in space. The songs have traditionally been selected by family and friends of crew members but this time -- to help commemorate the Space Shuttle Discovery and Endeavour's last two missions -- NASA is enlisting the public.

According to a press release issued on Friday, NASA has launched a song contest called NASA's Space Rock! The contest asks participants to vote from a list of 40 previously played Wake-Up Songs to be included on the Discovery STS-133 final mission. Participants can also upload their own original works to be played on the Endeavour STS-134 final mission.

In the voting contest, the two songs with the most votes will be played during wake-up time aboard the STS-133. Cast your vote now through the mission launch date, currently
scheduled for November 1, 2010.

"We're looking forward to hearing which songs the public wants played
for us," STS-133 Commander Steve Lindsey said. "It's going to be a
difficult choice, because there have been so many great songs played
over the years."

Some songs listed for voter selection include "Rocket Man" by Elton John, "She Blinded Me With Science" by Thomas Dolby, "Higher Ground" by Stevie Wonder, "Drops of Jupiter" by Train, the "Star Trek Theme Song" by Alexander Courage and "Theme from the Star Wars Trilogy" by John Williams.

More creative souls can submit an original song to NASA by January 10, 2011. Songs will be selected
by agency officials and the top selections will be put to a public vote starting February 8, 2011.
Endeavour's last space shuttle flight, scheduled for
launch on February 26, 2011, will showcase the two top songs.

"Space shuttle crews really enjoy the morning wake-up music,"
STS-134 Commander Mark Kelly said. "While we don't have the best
quality speaker in the space shuttle, it will be interesting to hear
what the public comes up with. We are looking forward to it."